


In the Face of Tradition

by DilynAliceBlake



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: M/M, Supernatural Elements, empath!oswald, familiar!ed, witch!oswald
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-02-19 13:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22711705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DilynAliceBlake/pseuds/DilynAliceBlake
Summary: "Behind every great witch is a good familiar," his mother tells him.  They've had high hopes ever since he spoke his first riddle."A sign you're meant for someone powerful.  Only the familiar of a truly powerful witch speaks in rhyme or riddle.  The better to keep your witch's secrets, Eddie."
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	1. No One's Pet

The Nashtons are a long and respected line of pure bred familiars. They marry to add power to the family name, and they train from birth to find the witch that will bring the most prestige. Prestige, here, meaning political sway and money. Edward is fifteen, and on his next birthday will be presented to the high society witches. 

"Behind every great witch is a good familiar," his mother tells him. They've had high hopes ever since he spoke his first riddle. "A sign you're meant for someone powerful. Only the familiar of a truly powerful witch speaks in rhyme or riddle. The better to keep your witch's secrets, Eddie."

His father, however, is more crass. "You'll fetch us some good money if you don't mess this up, boy. No more of this 'own person' nonsense. You do what you're told like we raised you to do."

Ed first decided that he wouldn't be some pet or decoration when he was seven. That's also when he got his first beating. His dad wanted him to shift and defend himself, but reliance on Familiar magic will only increase his need for and reliance on a witch. Ed's not going to do it. He won't be a puppet. Not for his parents or a stranger who can cast sparkles and write good checks. He's fifteen and there's an early college acceptance letter with his name on it. His name is Edward Nygma- he's no one's familiar, and he isn't a Nashton.

  
  



	2. Goals and Instinct

He can't stop the riddles. They slip off his tongue more often the stronger he fights against the other urges. At night he dreams he's a wolf, or a cat, or a crow. He was supposed to start shifting by ten- Nashton's spark early- And settle by sixteen into one animal or another for when he isn't in human form. He's never shifted once, and doesn't plan to.

His life will not be dictated by instincts that serve no purpose except to tie him to someone else's will. Already he's accomplished more than he ever could have dreamed as a child. He has his own degree, his own job, his own name. Even his goals, however meagre, are his own. 

Still, sometimes his instincts twist him into someone that others don't quite understand. Reorganizing Miss Kringle's workspace for better efficiency was apparently not a good way to express interest or affection. He'll have to find some other way to make her life easier and impress her.

"She's not a witch," his reflection interjects. "She won't want you following her."

"I know she's not a- I just want to protect her."

"And why do you think that is? Come on, Ed. Think about what you're doing. Do these seem like human choices to you?"

"He's beating her! Anyone would be concerned."

"Concerned, yes. But-"

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing. This isn't about you."

"I am you. Everything is about me. How can you not see that?"

Ed leaves before he punches his reflection in its smug jaw. He knows from experience that the cuts aren't worth it.


	3. Oswald's Magic

Oswald doesn't know much about witches. He knows they exist. That they cast spells and keep familiars. That they're deeply territorial and that there usually isn't more than one or two in a city. He doesn't know that he is one.

The emotions of those around him have always pressed in on him, and with the right mental nudge he can strengthen the ones that are to his greatest advantage. He can't put something there that doesn't already exist, so learns quickly how to bend himself into something pitiable. The more reluctant others are to kill him, the more time he has to talk circles until they decide to spare him.

He says "I can be useful," and they believe him. He says "Trust me, let me help you," and they do. As long as the people holding his life in their hands want power more than they want to see him dead, Oswald has the advantage.

He presents himself as meek, overlookable, small, weak. Layers these things onto himself like armor, and never once considers the word glamour. Oswald Cobblepot is a witch, but he doesn't know that yet.


	4. Change- The First Domino

One moment he's thinking about what flowers Miss Kringle might like, the next all the hairs on his arms are standing straight up.

Power. The Penguin's very countenance holds it. His limp is a stride and his confidence roils. Ed is instantly enchanted. Here is someone who has built himself up from nothing; someone with everything Ed himself aspires to achieve.

Someone who looks at Ed and decides that he isn't worth his time.

Were it anyone else, Ed might take offence. Instead, his resolve hardens. He will become someone worthy of looking twice at. Someone interesting and strong. He can be more than what he is. 

It's a wake up call.


	5. To Thrive Instead of Live

When Ed thinks of all he's put up with, of proving he's something more, the murder is easy. The disposal, in comparison to the stabbing, is a cake walk. With a brain like his, and a full lab at his disposal, it isn't exactly rocket science. He went into forensic evidence, after all.

Kristen Kringle doesn't hold the same draw she did before, but he would be remiss not to pursue her at the opportunity. She even doesn't mind the riddles.

It's all perfectly wonderful. Exactly what he wanted. No more bullying from Dougherty, and Miss Kringle's romantic attention purely on him. 

Ed's restless despite it. He should feel fulfilled and settled. He has everything he's been trying to get. His reflection hisses at him about risks and thrills. It insists Kristen isn't right for them, that she would object to what he did and how much he enjoyed it.

His reflection is right. Miss Kringle follows Thomas Dougherty onto the list of people Ed has murdered, and with her death something changes.

Ed goes from being an overlooked nobody to being an overlooked snake in the grass. Under the eyes and noses of everyone who's ever mocked him he proves himself cleverer than them all. They are beneath him now, not the other way around. 

The new perspective is refreshing, but he has a body to bury.


	6. Ed Fails to Understand Himself

Three murders, no evidence or chance of getting caught. Murder is easier than he assumed it would be. What's harder is resisting the urge to drop into a different shape under the canopy of green.

Just because his other self was right about serial killing doesn't mean it's a good idea to try his luck in other ways. Being caught by police is one thing, but the consequences of a witch's bond are much more dire.

What is a life in jail when compared to the complete erasure of his independence and identity? Especially now that he's finding his feet, so to speak.

Of course, if he can't find and dispose of whoever ate his picnic then a life in jail is exactly what he's facing.


	7. Post Burial

Admittedly, Ed wasn't expecting to meet _The Penguin_ out in the middle of the woods. The man is so out if it from blood loss that he probably won't even remember the corpses. That is, if he survives to remember anything. Ed settles him into his back seat carefully, wary of jostling his wounds.

"What to do with you, Mr. Penguin?" he muses, eyeing him in the rearview mirror. His alternate reflection doesn't make a reappearance, and the continued synchrony improves Ed's mood.

"Well, I suppose I'll just have to take you home. It's not as if there's room in that grave for a third body, after all."

All in all, it's the most interesting week he's had in ages.


	8. Awakening

Oswald does not have a history of believing that the people who help him have his best interests at heart. When you can feel the thrum of others' emotions, you become somewhat of a cynic. His mother, of course, had loved him purely and with the whole of her heart. When oswald was young, unpracticed and desperate for affection he had made a bit of a mis-step.

Nowadays the nudges he gives others are neither so drastic nor so permanent.

When at first he wakes up in a panic, he assesses with his eyes before resorting to his abilities. His second waking, he feigns sleep, acting with more caution.

His host feels buoyant. Oswald knows better than to hope the glee is at something other than having him helpless, but his first escape attempt goes poorly.

The strange thing is, he doesn't have to do anything to add to the man's concern for his well being. It's already sharp and urgent. That's enough, for now, that he feels safe enough to pass out again.


	9. To Serve

Edward Nygma is ecstatic. There is a sense of purpose under his breast, thudding in time with his heart beat. He is going to help The Penguin, criminal mastermind extrordinaire. 

He presents his guest with everything in his power that could impress or please him. His second impression must be less of a failure than his first. Saving Oswald's life may be a boon in his favor, but it's hardly enough to prove he can be useful on a long term basis.

Edward wants someone to mentor and guide him on his transformation into who he knows he has the potential to be, and who better than the best?

When he presents the lackey of Galavan to a sullen and disdainful Penguin, he's oddly reminded of a cat gifting a half dead rodent to its owner. He shakes the thought off before the implications have a chance to settle.

He needs to snap Penguin out of his depressed funk. It's in both of their best interests. 


	10. The Hand of Friendship Holds a Blade

There is a radiance to Edward Nygma's emotions that Oswald cannot get used to. No matter how he sulks or derides, Ed is there looking at him with metaphorical stars in his eyes, bleeding admiration like he's going through triage.

Oz tolerates it, because he has to, but he knows that any minute he will go a step too far and lose his temper. The joy Ed carries with him will fade to fear and disgust, and everyone in the city will go back to hating him. It's how things are supposed to be.

Even with a knife pressed into Ed's throat, his words are as sharp as the blade Oswald has against him. When Penguin prods at the emotions Ed is experiencing he finds, of all things, triumph. Edward is thrilled by the violence, and smug in his belief that he is right.

If Oswald killed him right here and now he would be killing someone who has only ever tried to help him. Perhaps the last person in all of Gotham who sees him for his potential, rather than his failures.

It isn't what he wants. It will never replace the hole his mother's loss has made. But perhaps, for now, a friend is enough.


	11. Arkham Artistry

It takes Hugo Strange less than sixty seconds, during their introductory session to keen onto what Oswald is doing. Mindfulness and meditation mean that he is constantly assessing and acknowledging his own mental and emotional state, so the sudden dip and surge of his emotions in unexpected ways is very enlightening.

"Mister Cobblepot, aren't you just full if surprises?"

As intriguing as what he's doing and how is to Hugo, seeing if he can train Penguin to stop something so clearly second nature is the more interesting question. The doctor makes it a personal challenge to see how much of this broken little man he can lock away and reshape.

Strange has always had an eye for potential, and with some work and minor tweaks Oswald could be made into a wonderful creation.


	12. Worthy

Ed opens the door to a cacophony or _wrong-wrong-wrong_. This twisted up repressed creature is not his Oswald, and every moment he stands there discomfits Ed more. Shutting the door doesn't relieve the nausea curling in his gut.

Edward honestly likely could have found Oswald before Jim Gordon, instead of going directly to the bodies. He refuses to consider it as a viable option. The idea of being around Penguin with the man's aura so subdued, his meekness overshadowing the power Ed knows lurks underneath, repulses him.

He both cherishes and hates the gifts he gets in Arkham before Oswald's visit. When Edward sees him sitting there, however, shaken but no longer bowing under normality, relief floods him. This is The Penguin, his friend, the man he was so inspired by.

He basks in the gifts, after that; both for their usefulness and their ongoing presence as a sign of Oswald's regard.

It's true that Ed got caught, but in coming out of his shell he had also proven himself as a worthy friend and ally to The Penguin. That, he thinks, is worth rejoicing over.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Van Dahls are known for dark sorcery. Elijah doesn't have it.

Elijah is the first child ever born to the Van Dahl's not able to cast spells. It's not that he doesn't have magic, or even that his magic is weak. The problem is, his magic is too busy keeping him alive to do much else. His heart is frail, and were he anyone else he would never have lived more than a week.

He still studies. He reads his family's tomes and histories, learns as much as he can about spellcraft and charms. He'll never be able to do more than the smallest of magics, but the books make him feel connected to his family's legacy. It brings him such pride and joy to share what his lifetime of knowledge with his son.

Unfortunately, he doesn't get a lifetime to impart it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only time Oswald ever shows a lack of self preservation or sense, the idea of family is involved.

When Oswald's father dies, he can't bring himself to study the books. He shuts the library doors and let's the grimoires gather dust. The thought of turning the pages without Elijah there to answer questions and share in their secrets makes nausea roil. His father had been so pleased with Oswald, whispering to him about blood magics and in awe of what he had been able to accomplish without any guidance at all. 

The last of Oswald's family is gone, and his home feels like a mausoleum of loss. The one spot of illumination in it all is Edward, at his side and fueling his ambition.

At least, until Oswald fucks it up.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know I had to do it to 'em.

"We could be so great together," he begs, feet scrambling for grip on the edge of the dock while Ed dangles him by the throat.

"I want to be great on my own!" Ed refuses to be bound to Oswald's every whim when the man has already proven so callously controlling.

"You're just another power hungry witch fueled by petty greed!"

"How dare you disrespect the legacy my father left me!" Oswald froths, rage and heartbreak warring, unable to understand how it all spiralled so quickly into this disaster.

"If you're the culmination of that legacy it can't be worth much," Ed sneers, and drops him with a new gunshot wound into icy water.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oswald really is bad at healthy boundaries tho..

(Perhaps if Ed had known going in that Oswald was a witch, he wouldn't have been so blindsided. Of course, he still would have been betrayed by how desperately eager he couldn't help but be to help the penguin with his every endeavor. And it certainly didn't justify Oswald killing Isabella to keep Ed by his side.)


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh noooo, they're trapped and can only get out by working together, how could this happen....

They meet again courtesy of the Court of Owls. If said court had bothered to look into Ed's background beyond surface level they definitely wouldn't have locked them up together, no matter the animosity between their captives.

It was reassuring, Ed thought, to know that the supposedly omniscient Court was capable of making mistakes. Perhaps they had even been kind enough to neglect warding their oversized bird cages.

"Try using magic to open the locks."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure my empathic abilities will be great for that, let me just make the cage door pity me until it lets us go."

"Itt's a grade four spell, Oswald, surely by now you can at least manage the basic telekenesis necessary to-"

"Well I  _ can't _ ," he snarls defensively, thinking of unopened books that might have saved his life were he any less reluctant to risk burying the few memories of his father under new research.

"My parents would either be apalled or ecstatic that I'd ever considered you. It depends on whether their desire to see me brought low would outweigh upholding the family sense of pride."

"You can whine about your terrible home life later- Preferably after you think of a daring way for us to escape." The demand comes out sharpened by the reminder of Ed's summary rejection of him as a romantic partner, but Oswald can't even pretend he wishes he had sounded kinder.

Ed sneers at what it's come to, but to save his own life he'll need access to some of Oswald's magic, and the chance of being able to leave penguin to die once a rudimentary bond is in place is too low to even bother calculating.

"Give me your hand, I'm going to instigate a surface level familiar bond."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward like oh, he respects me? Fuck if anyone is taking THAT away. He still says 'screw communication' tho, so it's technically in character.

"With what, a conveniently nearby dungeon rat? No thank you."

Ed hisses at the implication that Oswald would do just as well with a common rodent as a familiar of his ability and pedigree.

"You're not making it easy to see death as a worse option than binding myself to you, Oswald."

"I thought a familiar had to be an animal. Wouldn't there be ethical objections if witches went around just binding people to their service and will?"

It hits Ed all at once that Oswald knows literally  _ nothing _ about the culture he himself has been raised to. 

The implications about Isabella's murder in this new light are staggering- Oswald didn't want Ed chained to him as a status symbol. He had wanted Edward as a partner, an equal. His other half as if he were  _ human _ . He hadn't wanted to be the only important person in Ed's life; just the only  _ love interest _ .

Edward reaches through the bars and yanks Oswald so close their breathing mingles as he hisses the words. A slapdash, severable bond is now out of the question. He has been given an opportunity for everything he's always secretly wanted, without any of the condescension that has before held him back. With he and Oswald operating as true equals, the world would be their oyster.

**_"From highest highs to lowest lows, Familiar follows where Witch goes. Tied in past, tied by soul, Witch ambition makes Familiar whole,_ ** " he invokes, and then for the first time in his life lets human form slip away.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are slapdash but you will take them anyway.

Not a moment too soon, as the door to the cell their cages reside in clicks open and several Court members file in.

Ed's cool scales are wrapped heavily around Oswald's arm, and he can feel instinctually that the witch doesn't mind.

"These wards are basic," Ed delights, sight aglow with runes and walls the human eye can't detect. "Practically  _ rudimentary _ . You could probably overwhelm them with sheer power and will, given enough time." Disdain and delight are apparent in his somehow still human inflection.

"We don't exactly have time," Oswald snips, panicked and trying not to consider how Ed was suddenly a snake.

"Leave it to me," Ed whispers, calm and smug. Oswald finds his compatriot's sudden confidence both worrying and reassuring.

"Where's Mr. Nygma?" Catherine demands coolly, and a guard makes the mistake stepping close.

Whether he was trying to intimidate or investigate doesn't matter. Ed lunges in a blur of green, lithe form slipping through the bars easily, and sinks his teeth into exposed skin. If things weren't so pressing he would add in a witty riddle about venom, but the guard is on the ground seizing near the bars that he had just escaped, and Edward didn't even have time to think ' _ weapon _ ' before Oswald was going for one.

The balance of power has tipped in their favor, and judging by the fear in Catherine's eyes she knows it.

"A gifted sacrifice," Ed demurs smugly from his place wrapped around the corpse. Oswald's eyes light up in comprehension. Even if his father hadn't explained this, the intrinsic power of death and gifts was readily apparent. 

When Oswald stepped forward, limp exaggerated and precise, it was with the stride and saunter of a newly crowned king. Blood and death had always been his kingdom. 

His grogginess and hunger had dissipated- Whatever wards were apparently on the room before had shuddered and fallen in the wake of powerful new magics brewing. The cage clicked itself open with nary a touch. Whatever Ed had done to tie them together, he noticed, had poured energy into Oswald as if until now his whole life had been lead on a mere three hours of sleep. 

It felt good to be well rested, but better to gut his captors.


End file.
